Dec.21

Can you believe christmas is in a couple of days??? i cant!!! oh man time flows by so fast here and the heat is on! summer will be official the 22! oh i was dying the other day... but then the next day it poured like no other! there were tiny frogs all over the place... i guess they come out because of the humidity is so strong after it rains! and today we had our christmas activity with the whole mission! it was so much fun! we got to listen to the testimonies of the elders and hermanas leaving then we watched the christmas fireside in castillano.. then after that everyone had prepared a navidad skit! ours was about four elders who were not in the christmas mood so some of us came out at first and named off that they needed happiness, peace, and some other good stuff then the rest of the zone came out and ya it was pretty fun!
im so excited to talk to you all!! i cant wait! and yes i kept some of the presents to open on the day! so thank you very much! sorry this letter is so short but i dont have much time today to write to you! i love you all and have a wonderful christmas! what a great time to be serving the lord with the most greatest gift we have! the restored gospel! our heavenly father truly radiates his love through every little thing we have. what a wonderful life we have with a family strong in the gospel! and sealed for all eternity.. i love you all and ill talk to you in a couple of days! Chaosito!!!!

Tenga un Buen Semana!!!

Hola familia! once again this week has been crazy! haha with the language the people!! everything! My birthday came and went here.. it was pretty fun! That day we didn’t really have that many lessons. No one was home but at the end of the night we went to visit a family that have two daughters who are interested in the church! The father had made dinner and cake for my birthday! It was so fun and nice of them! They made this thin meat called milonesa! which is just basically deepfried and then with potatoes and egg salad. Then the cake was chocolate!! oh my favorite!hhahaha. I forgot about that mom til you mentioned it in your last email! It was very fun to be with this family and so nice of them!
I had my first zone conference this Tuesday as well with the president and his wife! It was all day long and we had milonesa ... seriously we eat it at least 4 times a week.. haha. im not complaining! They talked about how we can improve in some areas and new goals for the mission. I really enjoyed it! Our baptism on Saturday was amazing! I love baptisms especially these three children who we´ve been working with from the beginning of our time here! The spirit was so strong every time one of them was immersed in water. Then they received the gift of the holy ghost on Sunday. An elder who had taught them once before us (one of my zone leaders) was the one to baptize them! I cut the hair of all three of them before!
Oh and every week we have like a newspaper type of thing for the missionaries of buenos aires west and every week they do a spotlight on one couple and their success so this week it was ours! I will forward it to you! its all in spanish... i wrote it first in english.. then tried to in castillano then hna roy corrected some of it as well!
Every Sunday we have a crazy busy day with meetings and making sure our investigators show up and all that good stuff. When the people say hi to each other they love to give kisses on the sides of the cheeks.. so you have to watch out for those old ladies who love to have their bright pink lipstick! I learned that though after many kisses on the cheek and one of the men from the bishopric asked if I had something on my cheek. haha
oh and I will be getting to call you either on the 24th or the 25th from our chapel!
Tomorrow I have an interview with the president - exciting! The language is coming along slowly... I guess right now Im just learning to be patient with myself its not all going to come at once!
Oh and did I tell you we are hoping to have 2 other baptisms on the 26th of this month. The couple Estela and Walter!
and yes mom the skirt is perfect for here! nice and cool for the heat of the day! i have a great tan line from my watch already.. The other day I was telling Hermana Roy something and she was like that is a malo chiste meaning a bad joke and then she asked how to say bad joke in english. then today she called something else a bad joke but instead of joke she said yoke! haha... it made me think thats probably what I sound like to these people! haha.. Today I went on a short exchange with another hermana to the capital for some pictures and some information on being here. We got to catch up with the elders I had traveled with here! It was fun talking to them and hearing all their stories they already have from one week here! Ut made me feel much better they were having some of the same struggles I was with the language and the people. Cause it is hard. I didnt realize how it would be! But it was comforting to know I wasnt the only one struggling. It shouldnt be easy. Cause the most amazing blessings in our lives are the ones we have to work the hardest for! Hermana roy has so much patience for me! haha... sometimes she has to repeat a couple of times of what she says to me cause she has such a heavy accent.. its been fun! We laugh together about some little thing everyday. i love you all and be good!

Happy 22nd Birthday to Saren!!!

2 Weeks in Argentina

Hello my familia!!! so another week in argentine land with delicious food crazy people and a lot of rain! oh im loving every moment of it! so many stories this week! so we have been preparing three kids for baptism on hestons birthday with all the discussions... basically hna roy, from nicaragua, teaches the lessons.... or ill say something and she´ll translate it.. but its all good! im able to understand the people a little more! and the bishop (obispo) in our ward complemented on my testimony during sacrament that im sounding better! this sunday we had six investigators come to church!! how amazing is that... three of them were the children and then a family came as well that we´ve been teaching! it was amazing. oh and some inactive members as well that we´ve been visiting! i could have shouted for joy when i saw them show up! I truly just grow to love these people instantly! I love them all... even if they own 5 to 6 pets they keep in their homes and just have hard lives.
there is a couple walter and estela who are amazing people. Walter has some kind of sickness where his right arm and right leg dont work at all so Estela does everything. She works to take care of their kids cleans and takes care of her beloved husband. We taught them the plan of salvation last week and Estela broke down crying saying she tries her hardest in this life to do her best and how she is so overwhelmed. My heart just ached for this strong woman who does everything for her family. Walter started crying as well and we comforted them with some scriptures and our testimonies. We are preparing them for 26th of this month for baptism. We told them to pray about it! How amazing it is that the lord truly prepares these people to hear the gospel... a broken heart and a contrite spirit.
Hermana roy has been a riot getting to know! ... we have a pretty nice apartment with good beds and everything you need. We even have a balcony! we scarcely cook for ourselves! i actually cooked for the first time today some eggs! haha. We usually eat a little breakfast to tide us over til lunch and then we eat at a members house! We eat like three meals there and then when we´re done for the day we just have a little snack before bed. We walk everywhere we go! and sometimes take the bus (collectivo) and no i dont wash my own clothes we take them to a cleaning store and they clean them for us.. basically everything we need is right here! We live in castelar and are in the ituzaingo 4th ward.. we have some other elders in the 1st ward who are our district leaders and we meet with them every Tuesday! Tomorrow we´re meeting with some other zones and I'm supposed to bear my testimony... I'm a little bit nervous but who cares they were all at the point I'm at right now! My mission president is great! he´s so short and so is his wife but he´s so boisterous and full of power!
The other day i almost got bit by a dog! Nasty perros. They are all possessed by the devil. You wouldnt believe how many strays there are around here... especially on the outskirts of town! Saturdays and Sundays are the days that they blast their castillano music. it makes me want to dance.. haha.. but now im a missionary. Its discouraging at times with the language when I dont understand what is going on or how to express myself or even to help them! But I know through time it will come. I just need to open my mouth and put more effort into it! Know that I love you all and sounds like you are all doing great! I count my many blessings everday... all of you, the way we were raised, with goodly parents who want the best for us, in a clean loving environment, with food always on the table. haha we are so rich with things that are eternal and everlasting. remember what counts! our families. People come and go in this life but families are forever. They will love you always. This world is harsh and so are moments in it that we have. Thats why we have families to lean on them for support and comfort. I love you all! have a wonderful week!

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